As with any home, you will find that one day you or your spouse will make the decision to install wallpaper. While installing wallpaper can make any room look much more grand and eloquent than it currently is, it should be known that this is a task that is going to take a good bit of time. So before you sit down and start cutting and cleaning and buying all your supplies, you need to take a time to prepare yourself for the steps that are ahead of you. The first thing that you are going to have to consider is what kind of paper are you going to use to cover you walls with. There are many different choices that you can choose from, each with its own benefits and downfalls.

Regular Wallpaper

The first thing that can be said about regular wallpaper is that you pay for what you get. While regular wallpaper is incredibly cheap, it is also the most difficult to work with. When the paper itself gets wet, it tears very, very easily. Because of this, you are going to have to ensure that you take extra time and extra care to ensure that you hang the piece properly. If you try to rush the job, you are going to end up with a worn that looks worse than it did when you started out. Yet there is a benefit to using regular wallpaper in that it easily sticks to itself. So if you find a seem that you want to overlap, you can do this easily and this will help make the room look like one solid piece of paper as opposed to having points where the overlap is obvious. Secondly, regular wallpaper does stretch a bit, so you have a bit of room to work with if you find that you are scarping the bottom of the barrel in the last bits of your work.

Vinyl Wallpaper

You will find that vinyl wallpaper is actually the most common wallpaper that is used. It is incredibly durable, which makes it ideal for kitchens. The paper itself can hold up very well against moisture so for areas like the bathroom, this is a very good choice to go with. But unlike regular wallpaper, it does not stick to itself, which means that it is harder to line two separate pieces up.

Step 1 – Prepare Your Walls

Be sure that you have taken the time to properly clear out your room and the walls. Make sure that you have removed everything that you can from the walls. You are going to have to removes shelves, pictures, and any old wallpaper. Using your scraper and wall sander, you are going to scrub off all the excess adhesive as well as smooth out the rough patches with your sander.

Step 2 – Measure and Cut

As always it is important to measure twice and cut once. The easy part is going to be measuring the length of the walls themselves. You can simply measure and then cut your pieces accordingly. However if you find that you come to a recessed window, there are a few things that you can do to make this piece easier.

Step 3 – Overlap the Wallpaper

When you get to your window, make sure that simply measure a normal length of wallpaper. You can then measure the depth of the window and the recess. By doing this, you can simply make horizontal cuts upon the wallpaper, and then simply fold the pieces into the recess. This will give a smooth flow from the main wall to the window.

Step 4 – Cut Extra Pieces

If you find that the pieces aren't long enough to cover the full depth, you can also cut separate pieces to simply place within the frame. If you are using regular wallpaper, this will be a very easy fix as the paper will adhere to itself and create one unified look. If you are looking to get an exact cut from a piece, you must use a ruler and an exacto blade to ensure that you are going to get clean cut pieces that make your windows look clean.